Top seafood from the British Isles in the heart of Covent Garden
The Oystermen is the restaurant in Covent Garden to enjoy the best seafood culinary experience in London in an easy and relaxed environment. Simply decorated with lots of wood, white paint and checkboard tablecloths covered with paper, the place reminds me of my favourite seafood joints in the coast of Norfolk and Cornwall, down to the blackboards on which the specials are scribbled in chalk.
The warm atmosphere is a reflection of the personality of its founders, Matt Lovell and Rob Hampton, who love “old school hospitality” of the kind that avoids the artifice and stiffness often found in top seafood restaurants.
Raw or cooked, The Oystermen offers seven different ways to have your oysters. Here featured from the left: tempura, pickleback and XO sauce oysters. Photos © Miles Worsfold.
What Matt and Rob are stiff about is the provenance of the produce they serve to their patrons. They go all around the British Isles to find the best and most sustainable seafood, which often means that the menu changes even from one week to the next. When I visited, they had six different…